What your emotional pain hides (in the stomach, back, etc.)

When physical causes are not found (damage to an organ) to pain, especially if it is chronic, it is interesting to look for the emotional and psychological side. “Pain is a sensory and emotional experience unpleasant, related to actual or potential tissue damage or described in terms suggestive of such damage” defines the High Authority of Health (HAS). Emotional meanings are attributed to different ailments of the body by oriental medicine. This article presents keys to decoding body language, knowing that each case remains individual and that physical pain that persists should always be the subject of a medical consultation.

What is emotional pain?

The pain is a sensory and emotional experience. What are also called psycho-somatic pain (physical pains that come from the psyche). “All pains, especially chronic painare related to organic elements but are also modulated by emotions. If you are depressed, you may feel the pain more strongly. Pain is always also emotional, which is why it is important to reintroduce emotions in the management of these.” says Professor Anne Françoise Allaz, former head of the Department of General Internal Medicine. “There is a double dimension of pain, between sensoriality and emotion. The subjective feeling of the individual must be taken into account in the definition of pain. Pain can be present even when no bodily injury explains it, as is often the case with chronic pain” adds the doctor. “I strive to find the biological decoding of physical disorders because an emotion is a bodily sensation first of all“confirms Corinne Allemoz, naturopath.

Meaning of emotional pain

There are meanings attributed to pain depending on the limb or the affected organ. “We talk about biological decoding of physical disorders to evoke the symbolism of pain, which is a language of the body” notes the naturopath. Here are some examples:

► Upper limb pain

• There blocked is the gateway to what comes from outside and goes inward. Diseases related to the mouth or throat represent the unsaid or what we cannot “swallow” (a love breakup without a final discussion).
• THE eyes reflect the refusal to see something (I don’t want to see that my grandson is sick so I develop eczema on my eyelids).
• The pains in shoulders are the seat of annoyances or things we can’t achieve (professional project that doesn’t come to fruition)
• THE hand diseases represent what we don’t want to let go, a lack of “letting go” (overcontrol).
• back pain and lower back materialize the impression of having a too much load, “to have your back full” (a young woman who takes care of her younger siblings instead of her parents)

► Lower limb pain

• THE foot pain are often related to what “breaks our feet”, what annoys us (feeling of not moving forward, of standing still).
• THE knee pain symbolize something you don’t want to bend to, stubbornness (I don’t want to obey my parents because I think they are too strict)
• THE hip pain relate to what we can or cannot control, they show resistance to change (fear of making decisions)

► Organs

“You have to repersonalize the pain, each case is individual”

• THE digestive system is the brain of emotions, it expresses our feelings in relation to relationships and the outside world.
• There missed is the seat of anxieties.
• There gallbladder symbolizes our anxieties.
• THE kidneys are the organs of fear.
• THE liver symbolizes anger, resentment.
• The stomach and the solar plexus relate to stress (ulcer, gastritis).
• The lungs and the heart materialize sadness (broken heart syndrome for example)
• Thyroid is the seat of stress and what we can’t get out of. “Thyroid cancer can be caused by childhood trauma that doesn’t “come out”.
• The urinary system is the seat of our fears and our “territory”: urinary pain can symbolize regret or a feeling of having missed the construction of one’s life, of one’s “territory”.
• The nervous system. The ailments of these organs are related to stress (depression, hypertension, etc.).
• The genital system can in particular manifest the fear of having a child or the loss of a child in the event of a disorder.

However, “it’s necessary repersonalize the pain, each case is individual. On the other hand, depending on the cultures (Western, Eastern, African), the meanings are not necessarily the same. We can draw inspiration from these data but without forgetting to take into account individual trajectories and events to transcribe personal history“defends Professor Allaz.”It is necessary to know the history of the person by carrying out a “vitality assessment” because the physical ailments are to be highlighted with the biological decoding in relation to the personal history“confirms Corinne Allemoz.

How to recognize that a pain is emotional?

In the experience of pain, we distinguish acute pain (you step on a piece of glass), and thea pain that includes an emotional dimension (often chronic). “THE [douleurs émotionnelles] “primary pain” are pains that have no obvious link with an identifiable lesion of the body, no diagnosed organ damage” says Professor Anne Françoise Allaz. Today, we know that many chronic pains have no lesional substrate and are in fact linked to changes in the threshold of vulnerability to pain. “We are talking about central sensitization to designate an increase in the feeling of pain, hypersensitivity to this one. This modification of the pain threshold is based in the nervous system, but it is also linked to the psychological dimensions, i.e. it can be related to depression, bereavement or emotional trauma which express themselves through bodily paindevelops the doctor. These traumas cause a psychic vulnerability which manifests itself in physical pain which signals that “something is wrong”. The person may or may not be aware of it. For example, Patrick Goujon, in his book “Prayer not to abuse” says that he suffered from chronic back pain for years and when he “realized” that he had been sexually abused by a priest when he was a child, the physiotherapist “takes out” the memory of the back and the pain disappears.

What causes emotional pain?

Emotional pain manifests as physical pain whose causes are emotional and/or psychological. “This type of pain can be rooted in childhood trauma (sexual abuse, mistreatment, abandonment) and are very common in people who suffer from chronic pain“says Professor Allaz.

They can be reactivated by a trauma in adulthood (aggression, bereavement, breakup, divorce, etc.). “According to the statistics, 80% of people with breast cancer had had a violent emotional shock. Today, oncologists accept the idea between the emotional link and breast cancer” recognizes Corinne Allemoz. Moreover, some ingrained visceral fears for years can end up integrating into “matter”, the human body and cause physical ailments and illnesses. “A man developed multiple sclerosis when his child was born. Biological decoding [signification émotionnelle] of this disease transcribes the “I am not capable of” and unconsciously he feared not to be up to becoming a father” illustrates the naturopath. “These evils [physiques] are desperate cries that life and our bodies send to us. These are warning signs, witnesses of our imbalance” emphasizes Michel Odoul in his book “Tell me where you hurt, I will tell you why”.

Thank you to Pr Anne Françoise Allaz, algologist, former head of the Department of General Internal Medicine at the Faculty of Medicine of Geneva and to Corinne Allemoz, naturopath.